Georgia Court of Appeals, 2024

Jhon Leigh Properties, Inc. v. Beris Davis

Jhon Leigh Properties, Inc. v. Beris Davis
Georgia Court of Appeals · Decided September 3, 2024

Jhon Leigh Properties, Inc. v. Beris Davis

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia ATLANTA,____________________ September 03, 2024 The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A25D0030. JHON LEIGH PROPERTIES, INC. v. BERIS DAVIS.

In this garnishment action, the trial court entered a default judgment against garnishee Jhon Leigh Properties, Inc., in 2022. The following month, Jhon Leigh filed a motion to modify the default judgment. In January 2024, plaintiff Beris Davis filed a motion to strike or dismiss the motion to modify. The trial court granted Davis’s motion to strike and dismissed Jhon Leigh’s motion to modify in an order entered on May 14, 2024. Jhon Leigh sought to appeal the May 14 order by filing an application for discretionary review, which this Court dismissed as untimely. See Jhon Leigh Properties v. Davis, Case No. A24D0385 (July 11, 2024). Jhon Leigh also filed, in the trial court, a motion for reconsideration of the May 14 order. The trial court denied the motion, and Jhon Leigh filed this application for discretionary review on August 13, 2024. We lack jurisdiction.

An application for discretionary review must be filed within 30 days of entry of the order or judgment to be appealed. OCGA § 5-6-35 (d). The requirements of OCGA § 5-6-35 are jurisdictional, and this Court cannot accept an application for appeal not made in compliance therewith. See Boyle v. State, 190 Ga. App. 734, 734 (380 SE2d 57) (1989). A motion for reconsideration does not extend the time for filing an appellate challenge to an appealable order, and the denial of a motion for reconsideration is not appealable in its own right. See Bell v. Cohran, 244 Ga. App. 510, 510-511 (536 SE2d 187) (2000); Savage v. Newsome, 173 Ga. App. 271, 271 (326 SE2d 5) (1985).

Pretermitting whether the May 14 order granting Davis’s motion to strike and dismissing Jhon Leigh’s motion to modify was appealable, Jhon Leigh’s current discretionary application was untimely filed 91 days after entry of that order. Jhon Leigh’s motion for reconsideration did not extend the time to appeal that order, and the denial of its motion for reconsideration is not itself appealable. See OCGA § 5-6-35 (d); Bell, 244 Ga. App. at 510-511; Savage, 173 Ga. App. at 271. Consequently — and pretermitting whether the current application is barred by our order dismissing Jhon Leigh’s application as untimely in Case No. A24D0385 — this untimely application is hereby DISMISSED for lack of jurisdiction.1 Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 09/03/2024 I certify that the above is a true extract from the minutes of the Court of Appeals of Georgia.

Witness my signature and the seal of said court hereto affixed the day and year last above written.

, Clerk.

On August 13, 2024, this Court granted Jhon Leigh’s motion for an extension of time to file an application for discretionary review of the denial of its motion for reconsideration. Jhon Leigh Properties v. Davis, Case No. A25E0007 (Aug. 13, 2024).

Jhon Leigh did not seek an extension of time to file an application for discretionary review of the trial court’s May 14 order, and our grant of an extension of time therefore did not extend the time to seek discretionary review of that order.

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.